Awards > Scholarship

Mary A. Bancroft Memorial Scholarship

About the Scholarship

This $1,000 scholarship is awarded to support graduate student research that enhances our understanding of native plant species or their ecosystems and conservation. This scholarship is open to all graduate students regularly enrolled in a Kansas college or university. Proposals must be technically sound and directly applicable to our priorities in Kansas. The scholarship was established in 1998 and honors the late Mary A. Bancroft, a long-time member and supporter of KNPS from Ottawa, Kansas.

Deadline

The deadline for receipt of proposals is March 15. Award recipients will be notified by April 15.

Nomination

2011 Recipient

Name
Jacob Olsen; Fort Hays State University; Hays, KS

Research

Effects of precipitation and ecotype on the physiology and anatomy of big bluestem and sand bluestem

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Jacob Olsen

Jacob Olsen

Personal Interest in Plants

As a young child I learned much about plants from my father as we hiked and camped in the Wasatch Mountains of Utah. Stinging nettle was the first plant I learned about. After brushing up against stinging nettle for my first time, my father showed me dock plant, which is used to calm the stinging sensation and is generally found near stinging nettle. As I entered college I was unsure of my career path and tried accounting and engineering, but quickly lost interest. I began to take a few biology classes and the sections on plants always piqued my interest. I then worked for a year in the Garrett Herbarium at the Utah Museum of Natural History. When I finally took a class on plant anatomy and physiology, I knew what I wanted to do, and for a semester after my class I was able to work in the plant physiology lab as an undergraduate. Now as a graduate student, I am researching the physiology of plants and their incredible abilities to adapt to changing conditions.

Past Recipients